Car-coupling



(No Model) M. J. LORRAINE.

GAR COUPLING.

No. 411,289. Patented Sept.-17, 1889.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MADISON J. LORRAINE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE AS- SIGNMENTS, TO THE KEYSTONE OAR COUPLER COMPANY, OF ILLINOIS.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 411,289, dated September 17, 1889. Application filed May 7, 1888. Serial No. 273,132. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: from falling or being pulled out of the draw- Be it known that I, MADISON J. LORRAINE, head.

of St. Louis, Missouri, have made a new and The action of this improved coupling is useful Improvement in Car Oouplin gs, of analogous to that of other couplings of the 55 which the following is a full, clear, and exact class under consideration. IV hen the coup description. ling-head is looked, as in the left-hand mem- Thisinvention relates to that class of swing ber of Fig. 2, the key falls through the openhead vertical plane couplers which rotate on ing Z and by means of the shoulder E of the trunnions orjournaLbearingsformedbetween coupling-head the coupling-head is locked 60 [O the ears of the draw-heads. against any rotary or longitudinal movement.

The improvement consists more especially \Vhen the key Z is raised, as in Fig. 3, the

in the improved means for preventing the coupling-head becomes unlocked, and it can hook or coupling-head, under draft, from bcbe turned on the bearings (Z, and as it turns ing pulled out, whether the same be in either the key-stem Z enters-into the slot Z and the 65 :5 a closed or open position. bottom of the key proper l rides on the top of An additional feature is the contour lines the rearward arm of o, as shown in Fig. 3.

on which I construct what is known to the The rear end of the collar (1 cl being cut trade as the Lorraine coupler. away, the coupling-head c could easily be In the annexed drawings, forming part of withdrawn were it not for some other retain- 7o this specification, Figure 1 is a diagram of ing agency; but, owing to the combination of the contour lines of one member of the coupthe key with the inner or rearward arm of ling; Fig. 2, a horizontal section of both memthe coupling-head, as described, it is impos bers of the coupling, the left-hand member sible to pull out the head, whether it is in a having the coupling-head closed and the closed or an open position. 7 5

z 5 right-hand one the coupling-head open. Fig. I do not confine myself to the exact shape 3 is a vertical section on the line as 'y of Fig. 2. of the key or opening shown, as any desired The same letters of reference denote the shouldered key that will fulfill the purpose same parts. intended can be used; nor do I confine mya is the draw-head; c, the coupling-head; self to the exact shape of the rearward end 80 0 Fig. i, a projection or hook on the inner of the coupling-head, or the exact location, of

end of the tail of the coupling-head, which is the key, or the slot Z- or other relative parts.

designed to hook behind the locking-block Z, In my Letters Patent No. 353,330 I show and which is already described in my Letters certain contour lines which differ from the Patent No. 341,027, May at, 1886. lines shown in the patent of Eli ll. .Ianney, No. 85

3 5 (Z (Z are boss-shaped bearings on the inner 212,703, dated February 25, 1879, and particufaces of the respective ears of the drawhead. larly in that the inner line, marked X X, Fig.

(1 d are collars upon the coupling-head, 11, of said patent, and shown rounded therewhich, when the coupling-head is in position, in, is in the present case straight. Said partially surround the said bearing (1 (l. rounded line in Janneys is caused by its be- 90 40 Z is a shouldered key; Z, the lower part or ing part of a continuous outline formed by stem of the key, made smaller than the uptWo equal semicircles in reversed position.

per part. Having in practice found that this rounded Z is the opening in the coupling'head, into surface (line) wearing against the opposing which the key fits when dropped to lock the rounded surface (which it does by reason of 5 coupling-head. a constant lateral play of the coupled parts) Z is a curved slot in the coupling-head consoon becomes flat, and having also further nected with the opening Z the curve of the found by practical tests that a draw-head slot being struck from the center of the bearhaving said inner face parallel with the front ing cl, in which the key-stem Z is held when face of the draw-head tends to slip laterally I00 the coupling-head is open, and in that p0- out of engagement with the opposing drawsition it serves to keep the coupling-head head, I design the present contour so that the inner face inclines slightly toward the front face thereof without at'the same time essentially abandoning the flat surfaces described. This particular construction I find is a desirable one in that it gives the opposing hooks. a better grip upon each other in pulling. I have further learned in constructing my coupler as heretofore, with the flat faces shown, respectively, at D E and H I, Fig. 1, that when the opposing members came gently together they did not readily couple, but that a somewhat smart shock was necessary to efiect the coupling, and I now, therefore, make these surfaces slightly curved, and they more readily slip 011 each other. Other necessary changes are made in the lines, so that my coupler will interchange properly with what is now known as the M. C. B. standard. The radii, extent, and relative location of the curves and the extent and location of. the tangent composing the contour in question are shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

So far as the contour is concerned, the improvement relates to all swing-head verticalplane couple1'sthat is, to those in which the coupling-head is pivoted on a pin, as well as to those in which the coupling-head is journaled upon bearings, shown. Nor do I desire to be restricted to any special form of locking-key, so long as one is used that is adapted to the other conditions, as described and claimed. 0 is called the nose of the coupling-head, and 0 is the recess into which the nose of the opposing coupling-head fits when the two members of the coupling are engaged.

I claim 1. A cancoupling member of the type described, the contour of whose outer end consists of the compound curves I H G and D E F, united by the tangent G F, substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. A car-coupling member of the type described, the nose c of which and the recess 0 intowhich the nose of the opposing carcoupling member fits when coupled, are formed with the curves G H and E F, united by the tangent G F, slightly inclined toward the outer face II I, substantially as shown and described.

8. The combination, in a car-coupling, of

a draw-head having bearings d d, the coup ling-head having integrally-cast collars d d andcurved slot Z and a shouldered locking-pin with a reduced stem engaging said slot and resting on inner arm of the coupling-head when open and dropping to lock it when closed.

4.. The combination,in a car-coupling, of a draw-head, a pivoted coupling-head having a curved slot Z and a shouldered locking-pin with a reduced stem engaging with said slot and resting on the inner arm of the couplinghead when open and dropping to lock it when closed, substantially as set forth.

WVitness myhand this 4th day of May, 1888.

MADISON J. LORRAINE.

WVitnesses:

C. D. MooDY, D. W. A. SANFORD. 

